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Planning and Coordinating Research
UN Environment Programme: Meetings in Monaco
The tenth special session of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment
Forum, which met in Monaco in February, passed two resolutions
of immediate interest to ICSU—sustainable development of
the Arctic Region and an International Decade for addressing Climate
Change.
In the resolution on sustainable development in the Arctic Region,
the Global Ministerial Environment Forum ‘Requests
Governments, together with the International Council for Science
and the World Meteorological Organization, the sponsoring agencies
of the International Polar Year,…to enhance the scientific
basis for informed decision-making through the promotion of international
scientific collaboration and coordination to better track, understand,
and predict Arctic change as a key International Polar Year legacy
activity’.
The session also invited the UN to consider an International
Decade for addressing Climate Change for the period 2010–20.
A summary
of the decisions is available online.
ICSU participated in the 9th
Global Civil Society Forum as a new representative of the
UNEP Major Group on Scientific and Technological Communities on
19 February. The Executive Director is also a member of the Major
Group’s Facilitation Committee that met on 18 February.
During the UNEP meetings, ICSU moderated one ministerial side-event
on the science-policy interface and participated in another ministerial
discussion on follow-up to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
Human Health
Planning began in January for a new
health initiative focusing on a systems analysis approach
to health and well-being in the changing urban environment. ICSU
and the Scientific Unions, in partnership with the International
Institute for Applied Systems Analysis organised a two-day workshop,
bringing together around 40 scientists to explore how different
disciplinary perspectives and knowledge might be integrated into
a systems approach. The first meeting of a core programme Planning
Group was convened immediately after the workshop.
Monitoring gaps in IPCC report
The report Future
Climate Change Research and Observations: GCOS, WCRP and IGBP
Learning from the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report is now
available. The report comes out of the workshop held in Sydney,
Australia, in October last year, which investigated the gaps and
uncertainties identified in the Fourth Assessment Report. The
findings will guide the three, ICSU sponsored, international programmes—Global
Climate Observing System, World Climate Research Programme and
International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme—in developing
future strategies for climate change observations and research.
International Polar Year
The third International Polar Day took place on 12 March. The
day focused on the changing Earth over geological time, especially
the glacial and interglacial periods of the past million years,
and cycles of ocean-atmosphere interactions that give rise to
regional climate variations on scales of decades to centuries.
The next Polar Day is on 18 June and will focus on land and and
life, including permafrost, terrestrial biodiversity, hydrology
andsnow. More information on Polar Days and other activities is
available on the International
Polar Year website.
Global Observations
The Science and Technology Committee (STC) of the Group
on Earth Observations (GEO) met in Hannover, Germany, in February.
The Committee on Space and Research (COSPAR) joined Germany, South
Africa and the European Commission as Co-Chair of the STC, following
decisions taken at the Fourth GEO Plenary and Ministerial Summit
last November. The STC reviewed progress of the GEO tasks relating
to climate, water and weather, and discussed the transition of
the Integrated Global Observing Strategy Partnership (IGOS-P)
to GEO and the role of the STC in this regard. The STC also discussed
the draft White Paper on the Data Sharing Principles for the Global
Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), which was prepared
by the ICSU Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA).
Discussion of this important document will continue at the next
STC meeting in Geneva in May.
Global Change Programmes
Earth System Science Partnership
The report from the Review
of the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) was finalized
at the end of February. The report will go to CSPR for approval
at its meeting later this month.
Human Dimensions
The International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP) became the
fourth sponsor of the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP)
joint project Global
Environmental Change and Human Health.
The IHDP Open Meeting 2008 Social
Challenges of Global Change will take place in New Delhi,
India, 12–15 October. The meeting will incorporate not only
general discussion about climate change, but also many other environmental
changes which happen in our society: resource shortages, the destruction
of ecosystem services and new threats to human health.
Biodiversity
Hal Mooney took over as Chair of the Scientific Committee for
DIVERSITAS in January. He replaces Michel Loreau, who served for
two terms, 2002–07, and will act as Past Chair in 2008.
Climate Research
Dr
Ghassem R. Asrar has been appointed Director of the Joint
Planning Staff for the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP).
He joins the WCRP following a successful career at NASA and the
Agricultural Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture.
Geosphere-Biosphere
Professor
Sybil Seitzinger, Rutgers University, has been appointed Executive
Director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP).
She will take up the appointment on 1 September.
The fourth IGBP Congress Sustainable
Livelihoods in a Changing Earth System will be held in Cape
Town, South Africa, 5–9 May. The congress will include discussions
on improving IGBP relevance beyond the research community, identifying
pathways to sustainable solutions—particularly where IGBP
can contribute—and developing ways for IGBP to apply Earth
system science.
Reviews of Climate Research and Geosphere-Biosphere
Programmes
The Review Panels of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP)
and the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) held
their first meetings in January.
Both Review Panels are inviting input around the central question:
what do scientists, sponsors and end-users get out of participating
in and supporting the programme that they would not have gained
if it did not exist? With the central question in mind, the Review
Panels would also like to know: is the programme doing fine? Is
the programme effective? If it needs to change, then how?
The WCRP Review is being conducted by ICSU in collaboration with
the programme's two other sponsors—WMO and UNESCO-IOC—and
the International Group of Funding Agencies for Global Change
Research (IGFA). The IGBP Review is being conducted by ICSU in
collaboration with IGFA.
Input and comments for either of the reviews should be sent to
the email addresses below by 15 May 2008.
WCRP Review: wcrp.review icsu.org
IGBP Review: igbp.reviewicsu.org
Note: Email addresses are given in plain text
in order to block SPAM. Please copy and paste the address and
insert the ‘at’ symbol ( @ ) where indicated before
sending.
Further
information on the reviews, including the Terms of Reference,
is available.
Resilience
The Resilience2008
conference—focusing on resilience, adaptation and transformation
in turbulent times—took place in Stockholm, Sweden, 14–17
April. The conference brought together scientists, as well as representatives
from government and business to discuss the challenges facing societal
development and together propose ways forward. Resilience2008 was
organized by the Resilience Alliance, in collaboration with the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and ICSU.
Science for Policy
World Climate Conference
In 2007, the Congress of the World Meteorological Organization
(WMO) agreed to organize the third World
Climate Conference (WCC-3), to be held in Geneva in August
2009. The overarching theme will be climate prediction for decision
making: focusing on seasonal to inter-annual timescales, taking
into account multi-decadal prediction. Following an invitation
by WMO, the ICSU Executive Board agreed that ICSU will co-sponsor
this event. The first meeting of the WCC-3 International Organizing
Committee took place in Geneva in February, with ICSU participation.
The Organizing Committee set up three Sub-Committees: High-Level
Segment; Programme; and Linkages and Interactions with other relevant
International Organizations. ICSU agreed to contribute to the
work of the latter two Sub-Committees.
Biosecurity
Several of ICSU’s life sciences Unions, in cooperation
with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, co-organised the second
International Forum on Biosecurity which was held in Budapest,
Hungary, 30 March–2 April. The first
Forum was co-sponsored by ICSU and held at Lake Como in Italy
in 2005, where it was agreed that the Scientific Unions have a
central role to play in promoting biosafety across the international
scientific community. Raising awareness, education and guidelines/codes
of practice are all considered to be necessary.
Renewable Energies
The third meeting of the International
Science Panel on Renewable Energies (ISPRE) was hosted by
the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Paris in January.
The Panel is now finalising its first analyses of the status of
global research on photovoltaics, wind and biomass energy. Additional
analyses of solar-thermal, geothermal and hydro/wave research
are being planned.
Universality of Science
Regional Office for Africa
The ICSU Regional Committee for Africa met in Maputo, Mozambique,
in January. The Committee discussed preparations for the upcoming
General Assembly and inspected the venue with the local organizers,
the Scientific Research Association of Mozambique (AICIMO).
In February, the Director of the Regional Office attended the
official launch of the International
Year of Planet Earth 2007–2009 (IYPE) at UNESCO in Paris.
The aim of the IYPE is to use Earth science to help make the world
a healthier, wealthier and safer place to live. IYPE is a joint
initiative of the International Union of Geological Sciences and
UNESCO, and is strongly supported by other ICSU geo-Unions.
The Director also gave a presentation on the activities of the
Regional Office at the 1st
African Digital Management and Curation Conference and Workshop
in Pretoria, South Africa, in February. Conference discussions
centred on accessing and archiving scientific data and the management
framework required in light of technological changes.
Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
The year began with the Director of the Regional Office
for Asia and the Pacific participating in an international workshop
‘ASEAN Disaster Management: Enhancing Multilateral Approaches
Across the Spectrum of Emergency Response’. The workshop
was organized by The Scholar Ship Research Institute and the Asia
Research Institute of the National University of Singapore. Participants
examined the conditions necessary for South-East Asian states
and multilateral organizations, like ASEAN, to enhance multilateral
coordination in responding to and ameliorating the effects of
natural and/or human-induced disasters.
The Regional Office co-organized a round-table to discuss the
science-policy interface required to promote an ecosystem perspective
in development planning and monitoring. Natural and social scientists,
policy makers and economists were involved in the discussions,
which focused on the need to preserve ecosystem services for human
well-being. The other organizers of the round-table were the Institute
of Advanced Studies, United Nations University, Institute for
Environment and Development, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and
the Academy of Sciences Malaysia.
The Director was invited to make a presentation at the thirteenth
meeting of the Joint Inter-Governmental Meeting and Science Planning
Group of the Asia Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN)
in Kobe, Japan. The presentation included the current and future
activities of the Regional Office, its interests in science-policy
linkages and possible ways of enhancing collaboration. This proved
to be a prime opportunity for ICSU to contribute towards strengthening
future funding priorities in science-policy linkages by the APN.
Regional Office for Latin America and the
Caribbean
The fourth meeting of the Regional Committee for Latin
America and Caribbean was hosted by the Chilean Academy of Sciences
in March. The Committee discussed the progress of the four Scientific
Planning Groups (SPG) which are developing the four Science Plans
based on the priority areas—hazards and disasters, sustainable
energy, biodiversity and mathematics education.
The SPG for Sustainable Energy held their first meeting in January,
Mathematics Education and Biodiversity have both outlined preliminary
frameworks for their Science Plans, while Natural Disasters have
proposed key scientific aspects that need to be addressed in establishing
an effective Science Plan for prevention and mitigation. The members
of the SPG for Natural Disasters also participated in the March
meeting of the UNESCO Regional Consultation on Natural Disasters
and Sustainable Development.
Freedom and Responsibility
The Committee
on Freedom and Responsibility in the conduct of Science has
finalized a draft of its new booklet Freedom, Responsibility
and the Universality of Science, which was recently circulated
to Members for consideration. It is the first attempt by the Committee
to lay out a globally-applicable framework for the responsibilities
of scientists and, as such, the feedback from Members is crucial.
The draft booklet is available under ‘Documentation for
Members’ in the Member
Zone of the ICSU website.
Data and Information
The ad hoc Strategic
Committee on Information and Data held its third and final
meeting at the end of February. A draft report and recommendations
concerning the re-structuring of ICSU’s data infrastructures
has been circulated to all Members for consideration.
Publication Ethics
Following discussions at the World Conference on Research Integrity
in 2007, the ICSU Executive Board decided to establish a Virtual
Working Group on Publication Ethics. After consultation
with the ICSU Unions, this group was set up rapidly in order to
interact with an initiative from the International Association
of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers. The aim is to
produce a universal set of ethical guidelines covering issues,
such as authorship, peer-review, the role of editors and conflicts
of interest.
ICSU Governance and Policies
Officers Meeting
The decisions
from the Officers meeting in January are now available in the
resource centre of the ICSU website.
29th General Assembly — Maputo, Mozambique
Online registration and an updated agenda for the General Assembly
(GA) are now available in the Member
Zone of the ICSU website.
The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) in Mozambique is organizing
events to be held in association with the GA. These include: a
‘Science in Africa’ symposium, to be held in Maputo
on 20 October; and a local scientific programme which will take
place in various provinces of Mozambique, 13–17 October.
The scientific programme, which includes seminars and site visits,
is based on the four priority areas of the Regional Office for
Africa and two national priorities—marine sciences and fisheries,
and education. There will also be a poster exhibition and a number
of workshops in Maputo for which organizations and individuals
are invited to send proposals to the LOC. A scientific exhibition,
‘Science for Development’, will also provide space
for GA participants and other interested organizations to display
material relating to their scientific activities during the week
of the GA.
For more information on these events, please contact the Executive
Director of the LOC and President of the Scientific Research Association
of Mozambique (AICIMO), Patricio Sande, at pasandetdm.co.mz
or patricio.sandegmail.com.
Note: Email addresses are given in plain text
in order to block SPAM. Please copy and paste the address and
insert the ‘at’ symbol ( @ ) where indicated before
sending.
ICSU Secretariat
Building inauguration
Following extensive renovations, the new ICSU office building
will be inaugurated on 22 May with a function attended by the
French Minister for Higher Education and Research, Mme Valérie
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